When playing sports such as hockey, fatal accidents often occur when players collide on the ice. Often when a player is trying to avoid collision with another player who has fallen down, a player quickly steps over a fallen player, and in so doing may place the blade of his/her skate in contact with the throat or neck of the fallen player which can result in injury to the carotid artery or jugular vein of the fallen player and possible subsequent death.
Throat protection has been proposed previously for hockey players, an example of which is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,686,710 issued Aug. 18, 1987 to Marsten et al. The sports protector of this patent is an elongated, substantially flat armour member adapted to be positioned about the neck of a wearer and shaped to cover the vital areas of the wearer's throat. The armour member is made of flexible slash-resistant material have a slash-resistance of at least about 120 lbs. The device includes means fixed to the armour member to enable the member to be retained in a protective shape over the vital throat areas of the wearer. While this protector has gained wide acceptance, it is generally not considered to be very comfortable and often players don't wear it correctly so that it functions to protect them. Its drawbacks include: that it is relatively rigid and therefore uncomfortable, it tends to be very warm when worn during play, and it restricts movement and bending of the neck.
The prior art sports neck protector described above includes slash-resistant material that may be a seamless knitted fabric constructed of threads each having a flexible metallic core encased in a high strength textile fibre wrapping. However, even though the structure may incorporate a knitted fabric, the overall design is such that the fabric does not add suitable flexibility or sufficient comfort to the article.
Other examples of protective sports clothing are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,449,251 issued May 22, 1984 to Gauthier (Neck and Collarbone Protection); U.S. Pat. No. 4,324,003 issued Apr. 13, 1982 to Johnston (Throat Guard); U.S. Pat. No. 5,233,821 issued Aug. 10, 1993 to Weber, Jr., et al (Protective Garment Containing Polybenzazole); U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,110 issued Aug. 15, 1989 to Giesick (Athletic Protective Safety Sock); U.S. Pat. No. 4,918,912 issued Apr. 24, 1990 to Warner (Cut and Abrasion Resistant Spun Yarns and Fabrics); U.S. Design Pat. No. 268,142 granted Mar. 8, 1983 to Livernois (Protective Garment for an Ice Hockey Player, Pants); U.S. Design Pat. No. 398,719 granted Sep. 22, 1998 to Ferguson, et al (Mesh Neck Protector); and U.S. Design Pat. No. 329,508 granted Sep. 15, 1992 to Fair (Neck, Chest and Shoulder Protector).
Commercial hockey neck protectors generally have a foam layer or other material to provide stiffening to keep the protection in place on the neck, and thus the problems of the design of stiffness and heat build-up exist for the wearer.
There is a need for a garment that is comfortable, does not produce heat buildup for the wearer during play and provides the required neck protection for hockey players.
While knitted fabrics and garments are known, and it is known to knit slash-resistant fibre, to date, no one has developed the right combination of fibre and fabric construction to provide an acceptable form of comfortable, fashionable and versatile neck protection for skaters with the required degree of slash and/or cut protection.